Ah, The Bends. Before they crafted the album of the decade and bolted into obtuse, arty avenues, Radiohead’s foray into acoustic-driven, falsetto-filled soft rock made a jaded generation swoon and set the template for the next 15 years (and counting) of inoffensive, middle-of-the road rock.

The Bends begot Travis’ The Man Who, which in turn begot Coldplay’s Parachutes, which begot a mixed bag of a billion like-minded things. But even without that legacy, it remains a fantastic album with half-a-dozen truly stunning songs: “Just,” “Fake Plastic Trees,” “High and Dry,” etc.

Scottish rock crew Travis’ soaring sense of melody has only been matched by their sense of humor (after the jump, see the cheeky band punch-up video for “Re-Offender,” from standout 2003 set 12 Memories, for evidence).

Safe to assume, then, that singer Fran Healy and guitarist Andy Dunlop will deliver on the promises of “laugh out loud stories, Scottish accents, handsome Scottish men (and) naked torsos” on their their current jaunt, a two-man “chronological acoustical journey through the Travis back catalogue.”